Rotary engine.



G. E. EVANS. ROTARY ENGINE.

. 1 APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 3, 1909. 969,353. Patented seyn 6,1m.

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G. R, EVANS.

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G. R. EVANS.

ROTARY ENGNB.

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ROTARY ENGINE.; APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 8,' 1909.

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GEORGE E. EVANS, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. (i, 1910.

Application filed November 3, 1909. Serial No. 526,077.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. EVANS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to rotary engines,

and more particularlyto that type employing rotors having longitudinally sliding pistons against which the'pressure of a Huid power medium is directed. i

A very important object of the invention l5 is to provide sue-h a device utilizing to a maximum degree the lexpansive qualit-y of steam, the same 'detail of construction at taining this end being also calculated to make the'devioe valuable when adapted for use as a hydrocarbon engine.

Another important object of the device is to provide a means for utilizing a compressed i'luid at successive stagesV in the course of its expansion.

Another object is to provide a novel form of bearing adjustment for the longitudinally sliding pistons of the rotor adapted to maintain a maximum efficiency in the coinpression of the engine. f

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, and it willbe-understood that changes in the specific structure shown and described may be made within the scope of the. claims without departing from the spirit of the inl r vention.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the 40 several views, Figure l is a side view of the engine showing the proper inlet and exhaust connections therefor, Fig. 2 is a central 'vertical section in the major plane of the maf. chine, Fig. 3 is a cross sectional development on the circle 3 3 of Fig. Q, Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line`;`4L-4c of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the rotor thrown in perspective, Fig. G is an inner View of one'side oy the casing, Fig.' i' is a side elevation of the device adapted for use as a hydro-carbon engine with one side of the casing removed, Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 3 onthe line 8-.8 of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of a bypass in the i gas engine. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary seci tion of a modified form of casing and rotor, Fig. 1l is a section of the same, at right angles to that shown in Fig. l0.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown an eng-ine comprising a circular casing 00mas shown are considerably thickened and may be provided with water-cooling passages l2, as illustrated in Fig. l in dotted lines, when it is adapted for use asa gas engine. The members l0 and ll may be called heads, and have annular flanges 13 extending laterally inward and meeting to form a circular chamber 14 as shown. The ianges extemlradially of the casing thus formed, and have coengaged therethrough suitable bolts by which the opposite sides are held in proper coengagement.

Engaged revolubly through the members l0 and ll, there is a suitably journaled shaft l5 to which there is suitably splined or otherwise secured the rotor A, which lits snugly against the opposed inner faces of the members l0 and ll, and against the inner peripheral surfaces of the coengaged flanges lZ-, as shown.

On' their inner faces the members l() and ll are provided with conccntrically arranged series ofrecesses or grooves 7, the opposed grooves in the respective sides of the casing being arranged in staggered relation. -The ends of the grooves slope gradually -outward to the plane surface of the members l() and ll and the ends of opposed. grooves overlap to thel length of these inclined portions. These grooves provide in etl'ect a tortuous annular channel extending concentrimllly of the casing, the forniof which is clearly illustrated in Fig. ".f It. will be noted that the plane-surfaceioghe sides between the ends of the grooves is of a length common to that of the bottom of the opposed grooves.

The rotor .f\ is provided with a series of concentrically arranged transverse passages i7' and 1S. in which there are slidably disposed the pistons if) which exceed in length lthe thickness of the rotor by the dista-nce represented bv the depth of the grooves 7 prising the-cylinder heads 10 and 11, which- 'exhaust from the outer set, an

and are arranged to project into these grooves and engage snugly against their sides, and bottoms or inclined ends as illusytrated in the drawings. It Will be seen that upon rotation of the yrotor the pistons will engage alternately with the inclined ends of the opposed grooves 7 to be forced from one side to the other of the casing and projected into these grooves alternately. These pistons may be formed in any suitable manner, one method of construction being illustrated and comprising the central body member 20 extending transversely of the engine, said members being bifurcated attheir extremivties as shown at 21, and being provided with 'away from the member 20 and being pivotally coen'geged thereat.

In use, the pistons are intended,tobe'iexx-vy gaged in the passa es 17 and 18'with the member '20 dispose radially outward, so that under rotative movement 'of the rotor, centrifugal forecasting upon the links 27 will cause them to press outwardly upon the members 23 forcing them snugly into 'engaement with the endeoi the recesses 7. l Suitable inlet orts 27 are formed in each of 'the sides o the casing, and opening through the plane inner face thereof closely adjacent and concentric with one end of the recesses 7. Suitable exhaust ports are formed at the opposite ends of these ooves, adjacent the upper ends of their inclined faces, and numbered 28.

The outer series vof istons 19 are intended to be acted upon y fresh live steam, and the inner series, operating in grooves which are larger, may be acted u on by the thus the full expansive e'ect of the steam be converted into energy as far as practicable.. It will be understood-that additional con-I centric series of grooves and pistons similar y to those above described may be Idisposedinwardl or outwardly of the grooves described in order to' use the steam at as many successive stages in its expansion as may be' desired. It will also be understood, hoW- p ever, that if desired direct `boiler connections may oe made to the inlet ports of each of the recesses ir desired.

Extending :trom one sido of each of the ceases passages 17 and 18 in a common direction c5'v concentrically of the rotor, there are shallow by-pass grooves 30, arranged to register with the ports 27 at times.

Thus it will be seen that upon admission of steam through the ports'27', the rotor being previously disposed in position with one of the grooves 30 registering with the port 27', one of the pistons 19 will he in pcsition to receive the f^rce of the steam, which bearin thereagainst will rotate the rotor. It Wil be seen that after"y a. short period of movement the ends of the grooves 30 will pass'the ports 27', cutting oil' the;

supply of steam, and the steam already ad mltted to the adjacent recess before the closing of the port 27, as indicated by the letter a in` Fig. 3, will continue to act by the energy' of its expansion forcing the piston 19 to p engine, the construction of the rotor is apthe same as above described proximatel' with the difference that a larger number istons are carried thereby; made possible y the fact that a larger number of the grooves or recesses are required'in theI casmg m order to for the compression oi the gas andi-its explosion.A Thus', while in the first form but one recess was formed on cach sideo the casing in the respective concentric series, in the gas engine two such recesses are formed in each side .in respective series. In the roovewhere it is rovide separate chambers Y gas engine as illustrated in the'Figs. 7, 8 l

and 9, it will be observed that pairs of concentricallly arranged recesses 30 and 31 are" formed 1n opposite sides of the casing, tho

recess 30 comprising the compression'cham-` ber, and havin an inletppassage 32 opening throu h its inc ined face at one end and ar,- range to conduct'4v gas from'V a Isuitable source, while from the other end a lay-pass 33 opens from the outer end yof the inclined face of the recess and extends througlrthe side of the casing to a point adjacent the proximal end-of the next recess, Where it opens through the inner face of the casing a spaced distance from the recess 31, which may be called the explosion chamber; by-pass is arran ed to be closed in a manner similar to t e steam ports in the first described formof the invention, and thechamber is permitted in approximately the same inanner'as the steam is admitted in the first described forni. The explosion chambers 31 are provided intermediately ot their inclined faces adjacent. the by-pass with a suitable spark plug set in such aV will be readily understood, and the next piston following will compress this charge, forcing' it into the by-pass 33 in which it will be considerably compressed before the groove 30 of the rotor immediatelyl proceeding comes into registry with the Aexit opening of the by-pass 33 to allow the charge to enter the explosion chamber. Thus it will be seen that the charge will be admitted to the explosion chamber under compression at approximately half its volume under atmospheric pressure. Suitable means may be .connected with the engine for operating a commutator to send sutiicient electrical impulse through the spark plug to cause the spark or ignition of the charge, such Ia mechanism being offamiliar construction to those versed in this art, and is therefore not illustrated in the presentapplication. The spark should be timed to occur immediately after 'the groove 80" passes beyond the outlet of the by-pass 33, the ensuing explosion serving to force vthe engaged piston to the opposite end of the nchamberl, as will be understood.

n the gasolene-engine, in orderj to produce a more even impulse to the rotor, it may be found desirable to space the linner and outer series of chambers in staggered relation, and

it will also be understood that'as many -concentric series ofchambers and pistons may be installed as desired.V 'When'iiitended for use as a gasolene engine, the casing may be provided with water circulating passages l2, as indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 4.

It will be seen from thev foregoing that the present invention provides aA novel ferm of gas engine, and particularly a novel form of rotor for engines of this type, in combination with a novel arrangement of the inlet, ports which has a peculiar function both in a the steam engine and thegasolene engine in adding to the effectiveness of its operation.

In Fig. 9 there is illustrated a detail of the by-pass in the gasolene engine. Opeliing through the outer face of each side of the casing, there is an enlarged threaded pas. sage 38 intersecting the by-pass channel 33 adjacent its intake end, and forming at `the point of intersection a valve seat receiving thereon a spring pressed valve 39 having a stem -ll engaged slidably in a suitable guiding recess 42 formed in a threaded block -l--l securely engaged in the opening from the outside. Thus when the gas or mixture is forced past the valve under compression. it will be retained securely 'therein after the piston has passedover the inlet opening, until suliicient pressure is produced by the following piston to overcome the pressure within the by-pass and the force of thc spring 45, seated upon the block Hand bearing against. the valve as shown. The compression chambers may be made larger than the explosion chambers if found practicable, to supply a greater quantity of explosive fluid to the ignited. It will also be understood that the casing and rotor may be modified so that the pistons will operate radially, a sutlicient detail of which is illus-- trated in Figs. 10 and 11. 'The first of these views is a segmental section in the central plane ef the modified device, and the second a fragmentary cross section. Similar numerals are applied to the elements equivalent to-those first described.

' lVhat is claimed is:

l. A device of the class described comprising acasing havingfa plurality of concentric opposed-.serieso compression and expansion recesses-formed; therein and having. inlet vports 'communicating Awith one end of each. 'of the compression recesses, the compression and expansion recesses being arranged in al! tei-nate relation, like recesses on opposite sides of the casing being arranged in staggered relation, said casing having passages formed therein opening from the compression recesses oppositely of the inlet ports and opening through the faceof the casing a spaced distance from the ends of the adjacent expansion recesses, said casing having also exhaust passages-opening from the-ends of the expansion recesses` oppositely of said passages, a rotor carried Within the casing and* having'y surfaces abutting slidably against the sides ofa the casingto close said recesses, said rotor having a pluralityI of passages therethrough, pistons slidable in the passages and adapted for reciprocation for'alternate projection into the opposed reesses, concentric segmental grooves formed lin the sides'of the rotor and adapted to reg- "ister'at'times with the outlets of said passages and the adjacent ends of proximal expansion recesses, and igniting means engagediinsaid recesses adjacent the passages.

2. A device of the class described comprisizo ing a casing havingl a plurality of concentric opposed series of compression and expansion recesses formedtherein, and having inlet ports communicating with one end of each of the compression recesses, the compression and expansion recesses being arranged lin .alternate'relatiom a rotor mounted within the easing. having surfaces abutting slidably' gg e 969,353

agens he sideof the casing to close said recesses by Vcentrifugal*force acting 0n the 10 f reeeesee7 said rotor having a plqmllty of paslinks in the rotation of said Vzosor. sages 'xaerethrough, gist-ons shdable '1n' the In testimony whereof I afx my signature,-

passages and adapte alternate projection into the opposed refor recip'ocaton for presence of two Witnesses. I cesses, se pistons Comprising channel mank' f 'GEQRGE EVANS bers and links pvotaly connected together vWitnesses: and to the channe members, sa pistons GEO. L; BRUNS, adapted to be forced laterally into the said n G; BAILEY. 

